Alas, I have to report to an office every day, where the image we strive to project is, “Yes, you can trust us to manage your money. We are sober and non-flashy.”

So I have a little bit of hair envy toward the lovely Laini Taylor, a Portland author I met Tuesday evening. She is the author of Blackbringer, the first novel in the Dreamdark series. The second book, Silksinger, comes out next year. (They are middle grade.) I now have the first book on order for my son, so we can read it before the second one comes out! You can check out our date at Laini’s blog. We met at Sweet Masterpiece, where Laini had a pretty plum tart, and I had melt-in-your-mouth carrot cake. Nom nom nom! We talked about writing and life, two of my favorite topics.